The System
Magic on Erwt is the result of the (most often subconscious) movement of higher-dimensional limbs. Aether The Aether is a ubiquitous field that can hold magical Charge. The field is continuous, differentiable, and behaves similar to a frictionless (i.e. non-viscous) incompressible fluid. Neutral Aether is equivalent to empty space, not affecting matter or interacting with itself in any measurable way. Aether can carry two kinds of Charge. Simple Charge The simplest is a static point, which results in a Charge of constant intensity out to a certain radius, followed by a sharp drop in intensity beyond that radius. In other words, static point source creates a solid sphere of Charge. Phlogista The second type of Charge is the Phlogiston. A Phlogiston is an eddy of magical Charge, a perturbation in the Aether field, in a manner similar to a photon's perturbation of the E-M fields. However, instead of vibrating between the electric and magnetic component according to its wavelength for an indetermine length of time, Phlogista persist as a coherent vortex which dissipates after a certain length of time. Phlogista can be thought of as incorporeal charged particles moving through the neutral Aether. These particles have certain properties: position, size, and motion are self-explanatory. Lifetime is the remaining time before they dissipate and return back to the neutral Aether background. Affinities, Id, and Effects will be explained in subsequent sections. Phlogiston Dynamics: Lifetimes, Collisions, and Id. The Id of a Phlogiston is the Id of the Wizard (or other entity) who induced the Charge in the Aether. In other words, if Gandalf casts a Spell, the Phlogista carrying the magical Charge for that Spell assume Gandalf's Id. The Id is a unique identifier that all minds possess and serves as a distinguishes marker for individuals. The Lifetime is the result of the coherence of the Aethereal eddy which makes up the Phlogiston. A tighter, more coherent eddy results in a Phlogiston which retains its properties a longer time, whereas a sloppy eddy will dissipate relatively quickly. When a Phlogiston dissipates, its Charge is lost and it returns back to the neutral background Aether and disappears. Colliding Phlogista combine into a child Phlogiston. The resulting Phlogiston carries either the sum of the Affinities, Effects, and motion of its parents, or a weighted mean, according to the Combining Rule. The Combining Rule states that if the Ids of the combining Phlogista is the same, the combining operator is addition, and if the Ids are different, the operator is the weighted mean. Lifetimes are always combined by addition: the Lifetime of a child Phlogiston is always the sum of the remaining Lifetimes of its parent Phlogista. A child Phlogiston assumes the Id of the parent Phlogiston with the greatest Power. Power is the square of the Aether Affinity of the Phlogiston, plus the greatest Effect Power. The Power calculated as such is also used as the weights in the weighted mean in the Combination Rule. Since Phlogiston motion is subject to the Combining Rule, it is possible to block weak but fast-moving Phlogista from some adversary using stationary Phlogista with high Aether Affinity. Material Affinity Aether Charges have zero or more Material Affinities. If a magical Charge has a sufficient Affinity for the physical materials in the object(s) with which it intersects (including the air), then the the Charge Imbues the object with the magical Effects it is carrying. When this occurs in the case of Phlogista, the Phlogiston is spent, loses coherence, and reverts back to the Aether background and disappears. The object absorbs the entirety of the Charge in an instant. When this occurs in the case of point Charges, the object is influenced by the Charge for as long as the object is kept within the field. Aether Affinity is a special Material Affinity that increases the ability for charged Aether to interact with itself. Phlogista with high Aether Affinity weigh more heavily in the Combining Rule, Wards with high Aether Affinity block magical effects before they are Manifest, etc. All Affinities are subject to the Combining Rule. Affinities can be positive or negative. Under the Combining Rule, one Wizard's Phlogista can therefore reduce or remove the Material Affinities of the Phlogista from another Wizard. A Wizard can also Charge the Aether over a region with Phlogista carrying no effective Affinities, and then add otherwise inactive Phlogista carrying a certain Affinity in order to "activate" a desired spell effect in that area. Using a similar technique, a Wizard could "cancel" his own spell by removing the Affinities of existing Phlogista to render them unable to Imbue their Effects into any physical material. Effects The Effects are the part of magic that are (usually) easiest to discern and analyze. They are a table of signed scalar values (Power), keyed to a Type and Subtype. *Heat *Electric Charge *Impulse **Up **Away **Angular *Energy (Dark/Light, Evil/Good, Corruption/Purity) *Mental **Consciousness **Emotion **Animation **Information *Elemental Existence **Air **Earth **Water **Fire **Aether *Alchemical Transmutation **Air **Earth **Water **Fire **Aether *Alchemical Form *Alchemical Semblance *Light **Red **Green **Blue *Sound **Sound parameters *Meta **Enchantment **Lifetime Categories ﻿ Heat, Electric, Impulse, Energy, Mental, Elemental, and Alchemical are all Standard Effects. These Effects only become evident when the Spell is Manifested in an object. Light and Sound are Special Effects. The Phlogista carrying these Effects are visible as glowing lights, and make sounds. These Effects are the only way to know that a Spell is being Cast before it is Manifest. Or, more specifically, that the Aether has a Charge. Since isolating Effects is difficult, and certain Effects are often accompanied by specific lights and sounds, the Special Effects can be indicative of the Wizard's intentions. Enchantment and Lifetime are meta effects. Lifetime is described in the section on Phlogista Dynamics. Enchantment will be explained thoroughly in the section on Enchantments. Enchantments When a Phlogiston has sufficiently high Meta|Enchantment Effect Power, exceeding all other Effect Powers, then its Charge is not Imbued in the usual way when it encounters an object with matching Affinity. Instead of Manifesting its Effects, the Effects are locked in the object as an Enchantment. Further Enchantment Phlogista can be applied to enhance the existing Enchantments. An Enchanted object is like a permanent Phlogiston. It takes over all the Affinities of the Enchanting Phlogista, except for the Affinity to its own material. When an Enchanted object subsequently touches an object of a material that matches its Affinity, the Effects are Manifested as though the Enchanted object were a Phlogiston. However, the Enchanted object persists! The Enchantments remain in the object, rather than returning to the neutral background Aether. For example, a heating-water Phlogiston that Enchants an iron kettle, will cause the kettle to heat up any water it gets into contact with. Very handy if you enjoy tea! Some enchantments have special properties due to the intrinsic Forms of the objects that are enchanted. What Forms are is made a bit more clear in the Alchemy discussion. Magic wands and staffs are just some of the more well-known enchanted items, without which a wizard is limited to a rather cumbersome method of controlling the placement of his spells. All this makes Enchanted objects extremely powerful and dangerous. Perhaps fortunately, it is quite difficult to successfully create useful Enchantments, so these items are rare and well-guarded. Wands When a slender object of a length between a hand and a cubit, with a thickness no more than 1/12th its length, is Enchanted, it becomes a Wand. Wands are special Enchanted objects, which, when held, change the Induction process. Phlogista that otherwise would be Induced at some distance from the Wizard are Induced in the Wand itself, with a considerable velocity vector along the long axis of the Wand. Furthermore, all Phlogista with an Id matching that of the Wizard fall towards the point at which the Wand is aimed. Being Enchanted objects, Wands not uncommonly have some nasty side-effects from the enchanting process, but are extremely valued even so. Staffs When a slender object longer than two cubits, and with a thickness no more than 1/12th its length, is Enchanted, it becomes a Staff. Similar to Wands, Staffs change the Induction process, but in a different fashion. Depending on the angle and attitude the Staff is held, Phlogista can be Induced in any specific or general area, entirely up to the whims of the Wizard. With a bit of practice, a Wizard with a proper Staff can cause any Spell to occur at any point he or she desires. Since the Phlogista don't travel between the Wizard and his target, the only effective defense against a skilled Staff-armed Wizard is a good collection of Wards. Clothing Enchanted clothing behaves differently from ordinary objects: Cloaks, dresses, capes, and other full-body garments made with animal products (Blood Material Affinity) gives the wearer the form and abilities of the animal. For example, a cloak made from goosefeathers and felted goosedown will be a shapeshifting cloak, giving you the power of flight (and the power of being a goose) while you wear it. The effect lasts until the wearer attempts to remove the garment. Boots, shoes, sandals, slippers, and other footwear with Impulse Effect improve the wearer's abilities by a factor equivalent to the Impulse Effect Power. Hiking boots increase stride length (and kicking power), dancing slippers improve elegance and dancing ability, etc., since the objects are controlled by the Wizard and move with augmented power. Other equipment Enchanting an empty loop creates a looking-glass through which otherwise invisible Phlogista can be seen. Objects that are Enchanted with Impulse Effect can be controlled by touch. Flying carpets, etc. See Clothing/Footwear. Globes of glass or crystal that are enchanted with Mental|Information Effects can be used for scrying, telling the future, etc. These orbunculi are not to be confused with the more reliable (but less flexible) Link-based crystal balls. Spellcasting Every Spell is in fact a combination of Factors of different Degrees. Every Factor is associated with a set of Effects and Affinities. To design a Spell is to combine a number of Factors to produce Phlogista with the desired Effects and Affinities. A second aspect of Spell design is controlling the placement and movement of Phlogista that are created. Keep in mind, Spell casting is really just flexing extra-dimensional limbs to "stir" the Aether into action. Phrase The Phrase is a sequence of sounds, which are phonemes intonated from the magical alphabet. The alphabet is composed of the 22 letters of the Enochian Script, forming the Vowels, and the 30 Aethyrs, forming the Consonants. The Consonants correspond to different Factors (linear combinations of Effects and Affinities). The Vowels correspond to the Degrees (scalar values). A Phrase is the vector sum of Consonant-Vowel product series. A complicating aspect is that the Vowel-Degree mapping is phase-shifted according to the associated Consonant, so letter Pa may be Degree 1 for aethyr RII, but the same letter Pa would be Degree 2 for aethyr TEX. Pose A Pose is a particular configuration of limbs and digits, in relation to the body core and the location of the mind (Id). The relative position of all of these enter into an algorithm that results in a set of areas and intensities. For example, a particular Pose can cause a torrent of Phlogista to appear just under the Wizard's feet. A different Pose can result in a slow release of Phlogista from 10 to 20 meters away, at an even height with the Wizard. Still a different Pose could result in a moderate Phlogista storm all around the Wizard from 1 to 100 meters away, with a small area of intense activity jus over his head. The error margin is minute - it takes considerable time and patience to discover useful Poses, and still more to recreate them consistently. Poses are specific to individual Wizards because a difference in shoulder width or finger length can throw a Pose completely out of balance. Pattern The Pattern is a mental image the spellcaster must form. The Pattern is specific to the Phrase - if the Wizard visualizes the wrong Pattern, the spell will either misfire (Charge the wrong Effects), or fail completely. The exact nature of the Pattern is yet to be determined. Wards Wards are symbols, signs, runes, or sigils that carry magical Charge. Overview A Ward is an intricate rune of some sort. It can be embroidered, carved, engraved, embossed, painted, tattooed, wrought, cast, sculpted, or otherwise rendered into or onto some object or material. The more intricate the Design and the closer its implementation or execution is to the ideal, the greater its effect. Wards imbue the Aether field with a permanent charge. The effect is such that Wards maintain some attribute of the objects within the field at the moment it's created. For example, a Heat ward will keep an object from heating up when subjected to fire, or from freezing when submerged in cold water. A Mental Ward will keep a person from becoming fatigued, or it can keep a sleeping person sleeping deeply, etc. Wizard robes are commonly illustrated with a pattern of moons and stars, which is simply because the artist generally doesn't know that all the weird designs have real significance: a real Wizard Robe is generally of silk, and has the finest Wards woven into the fabric, embroidered on top, and sewn into the hems and seams. A well-prepared Wizard will also wear pendants and bangles and rings and earrings, all of which are Wards for various purposes, both to keep themselves safe from their own magic, but also to thwart any assassins or other mundane hooligans. Mechanics Rather than Inducing Phlogista eddies in the Aether, they distort the Aetherial Charge Fields directly. The mechanism is much simpler than Spellcasting. Depending on the Ward Factors, the Field will have a radius, a list of Material Affinities, a single Effect, and Effect Power. The Ward will influence all objects composed of materials matching the Affinities, within the radius. The Effect attribute of the affected objects will tend towards the Ambient Value according to the Power. For example, for a Heat Ward with Power 10 and Stone Affinity 100, any stone objects within the Radius will warm up or cool down to the ambient room temperature, at approximately the rate at which a Spell with Power 10 would heat a stone object of the same size. Ward Effects: * Heat * Electric Charge * Motion * Energy * Aether (only affects mismatched Id) * Mental (maintains the current mental state) * Elemental (inhibits transmutation and conjuration) * Concealment (higher Power means less noticeable) Creation Once a design with Charge is discovered, it is a simply a matter of transcribing the Ward into a physical medium. This can be jewelry (bangles, pendants, earrings, rings, etc.), embroidered clothing (popular on robes and wizard hats), the front and back covers of Grimoires (doesn't work on the inside, obviously), furniture, doors and windows, stone floors, stripped tree trunks, whatever will hold a detailed design. Tattoos are possible, but unheard of due to the risk and permanence and craziness. It's said that some wizards even can create a simple, short-lived Ward by blowing delicate smoke rings, but that is most likely entirely fabricated. Destruction A Ward which is completely overwhelmed (say, a Heat Ward of low power that is brought near a foundry) will violently disrupt itself to resolve the conflict. Embroidery becomes a shredded tangle, jewelry becomes twisted metal, etc. This can be hazardous in itself, but generally much less so than whatever caused the disruption. Design Process The Ward Design is a multi-layered grid with straight segments. Choose a medium (decides whether the grid has 4 or 6-way connectivity). Choose a size (decide between sides of length 3, 5, 8, or 13). Larger sizes can be more powerful, but take more work and material and are more difficult to execute. Choose a material (decides whether the grid subdivides zero times, once, twice, or three times. "Better" materials allow more precise Designs). Draw segments of length 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13, up to the size. Segments are straight and connect nodes along the paths of connectivity (4 or 6-way). Nodes that border a line can be zoomed in to, presenting a new grid with a size one step smaller than the higher level. Ward Effect Translation To be defined. May have some relation to the image at http://www.kondor.de/enoch/gif/regenten.gif from the page at http://www.kondor.de/enoch/etyr.html. Alchemy Alchemy is the process of extracting properties from material objects and incorporating those Extracts into Products that can be more useful. Overview Any object is made of a Substance, which carries two Alchemical aspects: Form and Semblance. The combination of Subtance, Form, and Semblance is what makes an object what it is. Substance is just the physical "stuff". The Form is what makes it behave like it does. Semblance is what makes it look like it does. Alchemy is the process of separating the Substance from the Form, concentrating and enhancing the Form Extracts, and preparing potions, ointments, and alloys that contain the Extracts so you can drink them, apply the the ointment, or work the metal and transfer the extracted Forms to whatever it is. The Semblance is unaffected by this process: the first step involves grinding, crushing, or dissolving the ingredients, which removes any useful Semblance anyway. You can create a shimmering, "impossibly" sharp sword by working an Extract of diamond, needles, cat claws, stardust, and hawk eyes into the steel as the sword is being forged. Or you can make an oil with the same Extract, and rub it into an ordinary sword, which will last until the oil rubs off. If you were to make a potion with the extract and then drink it, you'd probably die from whatever side-effects there are (diamonds, needles, cat claws and stardust are all linked pretty closely to "death" and "cold"), but you'd be really really sharp-witted, sharp-tongued, sharp-sighted, and have sharp nails and teeth and have sharp-smelling breath, and whatever else is associated with sharpness. Forms and Substance Forms and Substance are intrinsic to an object. Semblance is relatively flighty. A part of an object, say, a bird's feather, retains the Form of the object to which it belonged, in addition to its own intrinsic Form. The Form determines the general shape and behavior of an object. Hence, a feather is light, streamlined, and flighty, just as a bird. However, a feather looks nothing like a bird, so their Semblance is quite unrelated. The Substance is the actual material that comprises an object. Extracts, Compounds, and Products The goal is to separate Form from Substance to produce an Extract. Extracts can be combined, which results in Compounds that can be incorporated into Products by an Alchemist for various applications. When exposed to extreme heat or cold, or physical shock, a Compound can lose aspects of its component Extracts. The weakest, most dilute Forms are the first to fade. With continued treatment, also the strongest Forms are lost. Compounds can be infused into teas, tinctures, salves, and potions, for application or consumption by people who wish to temporarily gain the Forms captured in the Extract. Compounds can be employed in metallurgy, permanently infusing Form into the metal. The salves, potions, and metals that contain Alchemical Compounds are called Alchemical Products. Process The first step involves boiling objects in a Cauldron. The Cauldron is any bowl-shaped container made principally out of iron. Objects are first boiled into a solution with water, saltpeter, and sulfur. Impermeable objects that don't dissolve naturally must be crushed, ground, and powdered, usually in a mortar and pestle. Permeable/porous objects can be tossed into the Cauldron directly. This frees the Forms in the object and allows them to enter the Liquid. Once the objects have been boiled sufficiently, the Cauldron is decanted, and the resulting Liquid is used in the remainder of the Process. The Liquid is first cooled, then skimmed of film and scum and decanted a second time, leaving a grainy or lumpy Sludge. The remaining Liquid is poured in a flask and set over a burner, where it simmers slowly. The Liquid vapors are caught in an alembic and passed into a coil of glass or copper, where they condense and drip into a catch. Meanwhile, the Sludge is dried slowly (preferably in a sand bath) and then placed in a (preferably Hessian) crucible, which is placed on a bed of lit coals, foreseen with a billows. An aludel is placed over the Sludge, which is sublimated at maximum heat. The condensation at the apex of the aludel are allowed to drip into the same catch as for the Liquid vapors. The catch is a charcoal bowl, prepared of hardwood. The bowl has a small pinhole, through which Liquid can be forced by use of a plunger. From the charcoal bowl, the Liquid passes through a sand filter, which is a flat pan or washboard (opinions differ on what delivers the best results) covered in fine quartz sand. Finally, the Liquid is tapped into vials, as Extract. Everything after step 3 (Decanting) is optional, and can work as Extract, but with weaker primary Form, and nearly equally strong secondary Forms, making it less useful. In other words, the only equipment really necessary for the most basic alchemy is a Cauldron and some other container. The subsequent refinement steps were developed over the centuries, and it's generally assumed there are additional ways to improve the Extract quality, although it is quite difficult to do so. There are some theoretical arguments against the possibility for further enhancement. Extracts in vials can be processed even further (by Reduction), in order to reduce the secondary Forms, but the primary Form cannot be enhanced further, except by mixing with other Extracts to form Compounds. Combination. Combining Extracts forms Compounds. Compounds can be combined further. Compounds enhance both the primary and secondary Forms in the combined Extracts. Reduction. By heating or succussion, the secondary Forms are weakened and eventually removed, at the risk of potentially reducing the potency of the primary Forms in the Compound. Infusing a Compound into a mass of other material, such as water (hot as tea or cold as potion), oils and waxes (for salves and tinctures), or metal (in metallurgical processes), stabilizes the Compound. The result is the Product. After this point, heating or succussion has no noticeable effect, unless the material is somehow physically destroyed or dispersed. Addition of Forms A Liquid takes the Forms of the Object added to the Cauldron, plus all the traits of the recursive decomposition of the Object. For example, throw in a Bird, and you get Flies, not Intelligent, and Streamlined, but also Flaps, not Resilient, and so on. Forms occurring more than once have a higher concentration, and become primary Forms. For example, when making a warming potion, it is a good idea to add some Fur and SunBakedSandstone to the Cauldron, along with Hide and Scales to counteract the "not Resilient" forms. Continuing the example, if the Alchemist neglected to subsequently Reduce the Compound, the end Product would have a primary Warming effect, but also carry secondary Parasites and Slimy effects, which might cause intestinal worms and diarrhea when consumed as a Potion. Sludge The sludge that remains after the Liquid properly prepared and decanted, is Substance that is both Formless and without Semblance. It is colorless, not firm enough to be solid, nor soft enough to be a liquid or slime. Sometimes it has an odor (faint remainders of Forms that didn't quite enter the Liquid), which dissipates over time. It is entirely useless stuff, and is generally kept in barrels for storage, until they are carted to a nearby stream and dumped. Left in the open, or enclosed in an airtight container, Sludge will very slowly evaporate: a square-foot puddle will reduce in depth by a finger per year. Evaporated Sludge is exactly identical to "fresh" Sludge: it's not concentrated in any way, there's just less of it. Links Links are mystical connections between objects that are separated by space or time. The Link binds object attributes, such motion, temperature, magic charges, and so on, to the same attributes of other objects. Attributes can be static or dynamic. Examples of dynamic attributes are impulse and temperature changes, whereas static attributes include position, orientation and temperature. Although there's no real difference between Linking temperature change and temperature, the difference between impulse and position is that an impulse Link will transmit instantaneous forces, whereas a position Link will attempt to maintain a fixed relative position between the linked objects. Establishing Links Links are facilitated by a combination of Alchemy and Wards. If a single batch of Alchemical Product is applied to two objects, the objects are Linked according to the Alchemical Forms. These Links are Dormant. To Activate a Link, a Ward must be applied to both objects. The Wards must be the identical on both objects and the Ward Effect must match the Alchemical Form to some degree in order to Activate the Link. Activated Link Behavior When a Link is Activated, the Ward Effect Power and Alchemical Form Potency is diminished by the Link Fidelity. Link Fidelity is the related to the Link Friction, which is determined by the combination of the Ward's Power, Form's Potency, and the number of Linked objects. Higher Power and Potency, and fewer Linked objects means a lower Friction. Fr = (LO*LO) / (WP * AP). When Fr is equal to or greater than unity, the Link has no effect. Fidelity is then fixed to 0, so the Ward and Alchemical effects are not diminished. When Fr is less than 1, Fi is (1 - Fr). Activated Links connect object attributes according to the Ward and Form that make up the Link. Object motion, position, temperature, electric charge, energy, mental attributes, and all other attributes can be Linked by carefully selecting Ward Effect and Alchemical Form. The Friction of the link determines the degree to which the attributes are linked. For example, a Bounces oil with a potency of 3 can be rubbed into two wooden balls, which are subsequently inscribed with a Motion Ward with Effect Power of 10. This would create a dynamic Link binding object impulses. Friction is 0.13 (a Link of very high Fidelity 0.87). Hit one wooden ball with a mallet, and the Motion Ward dampens the impulse dramatically less than it normally would (I := I / (WP * Fr), or if the impulse is of magnitude 10, the effective impulse is 10 / (10 * 0.13) = 7.5 instead of 10 / 10 = 1.). In the same instant, the second wooden ball gets a push in the same direction. The magnitude of the Link-directed impulse is the magnitude of the impulse imparted to the first ball, times the Link Fidelity Fi. In our example, the second push is 7.5 * 0.87 = 6.5. In other words, the second ball gets nearly the same push as the first. Let's repeat the example with a Bounces oil of low potency (2) and a moderate Motion Ward (3). Friction is 0.67, Fidelity 0.33. Push the first ball with an impulse of 10, and it receives 10 / (3 * .67) = 5. This is higher than the impulse would have been with an inactive link (3.33). The second ball receives an impulse of 5 * 0.33 = 1.67, which is dramatically lower than the first ball. Applying a High oil (perhaps distilled from condor feathers, clouds, and a tiny chime) instead of a Bounces oil would produce a static height position Link. The amount of force with which the Link aims to maintain the relative heights of the two objects is determined by the Link Fidelity, as you would expect. Breaking Links Links are facilitated by Alchemical Forms and activated by Wards. If a Ward is broken or disturbed, then the Link will deactivate. If the Alchemical product is removed or somehow used up, the Link will break and disappear entirely. The connected objects become wholly individual. Perpetuum Mobile It's slightly tricky to build a perpetual Link machine, because of Frictional losses, but if you have a strong Link, you end up pushing two objects with a total of a little under twice the energy you expended. So, then, make a see-saw, and place one barrel on the left side, and two barrels on the right. The two barrels on the right are linked. Push down on the left, so one of the right barrels is pushed up. Both barrels are pushed up due to the link. Both barrels reach the top, and start to fall. Both barrels push down, and the left barrel is pushed back up. It reaches a higher apex than the double barrels, because it's pushed by twice the weight. It finally reaches a new, higher apex, and falls down. This pushes the one right barrel. The link pushes the second right barrel, and both barrels reach a higher apex than last time. Attach an axle with a ratchet, and you have a ratcheting mechanical wheel (for powering a mill, or whatever, like a water-wheel) that turns indefinitely. Crystal Balls Crystal balls of various capabilities can be created with the Link system. A Palantir (a la Lord of the Rings) is probably the most powerful variant, where an Obsidian orb is polished with Vision-alchemical oils and etched or engraved with Mental wards. These orbunculi only transmit information between one another, and can't be used for general scrying or fortune telling like Enchantment-based crystal balls. Curses Curses are a form of magic that incorporates aspects of both Aether manipulation and Alchemy, by invoking patterns entrained in the cosmic fabric and thereby causing a lasting change in the objects, places, or people now associated with those patterns. Wizards, witches, shamans, alchemists, herbalists, and some beasts who regularly engage more closely with the higher cosmic dimensions than mundane people and objects, become entwined in the threads that bind the world to the machinery that makes it run, and to the fabric of history that is being woven. Powerful beings like kings, the greatest bards, saints and sinners that touch the lives of many, for better or worse, become similarly entwined, simply from rubbing with or against the fabric over time. Entwined beings entrain patterns into the cosmic weave by focusing (or dwelling) on a particular cosmic aspect. This is often completely unintentional, but can also be deliberate. Such an aspect can be any of the alchemical Forms - alchemists who work with particular devotion may see their obsessions rub off on their persons, or seep into areas of their life outside the lab. Cosmic aspects also include emotion - hateful, brooding witches will be surrounded by corruption and hate, even without conscious action on their part. Aspects can be quite abstract, such as irony, or greed, which are even more difficult to discover and extract via Alchemical processes. Once an entwined being has entrained some aspect sufficiently, this pattern is balled up in the cosmic threads surrounding this being, and this puts considerable strain on the weave. Eventually, some cataclysm takes place, and this can take one of two forms: either the entwined being places a curse on something, someplace, or somebody other than herself, or else she is consumed by the curse. Most often the resolution stage of the curse takes place convulsively, at some historical node, and the balled-up tension is torn free from the weave at the cost of a great many threads, which need to be retied and reconstituted quickly after. For instance, a witch obsessed with beauty casts a curse upon her stepdaughter, causing her to fall asleep in and indefinitely retain her youthful beauty. Or an alchemist in pursuit of the transmutation of lead into gold finally meets success, when he, hunched over his alembic, suddenly transforms into a statue of gold. Aether Buffers Some Aether Charges have very subtle and complex behavior. For example, Mental|Information spells can be used to convey specific information, and Alchemical Semblance spells can create the appearance of advanced age or great beauty in an unremarkable face. The Wizard has no way to give detailed instructions to the activated Aether through Phrase, Pose, or Pattern. Neither do wands, staves, or wards lend such ability. The world, as it is, is simply much too complex. The actual mechanism is that Phlogista with a positive charge Imprint in the Aether an aspect of the world when they Manifest their effects. Phlogista with a negative charge, in turn, inflict the stored Imprint on the object against which they Manifest.Category:Physics